GenCon Postmortem 4

My GenCon Peeps: I couldn’t possibly talk about everyone I met at GenCon, even just the ones I liked, because that’d take way too much time to write and… well, frankly, I barely remember half of the cool people I met. I will be limiting this to people I played with and who made a specific impression on me THIS GenCon, and whose names I remember. I can only hope that I made as good an impression on these guys as they did on me.

Jahmal “MadJay” Brown: I have a lot to be grateful to this dude for. Primarily, he’s a big part of the reason why I got to go at all, because if I couldn’t have made room arrangements, I wouldn’t have been able to go. He literally messaged me the day after I’d given up on going. Our communications before GenCon were pretty much limited just to the logistics of the room, so he was pretty much a stranger on Thursday morning when I woke up after getting in 5 or so hours before. We ended up going to breakfast (brunch, really) before we all split to go do our separate things, and that pretty much set the pattern for the rest of the weekend. When we’d meet back up in the evenings, we’d talk about the games we played, and about other gaming and programming related stuff, but it wasn’t really until after the women and gaming seminar I went to on Friday that we really started getting deeper than that. I think Jay and I have a very compatible world view, but after touching on some sensitive topics, I really think that even where our world views differ, we’d be able to discuss it civilly. I’ll confess that some of this is probably the GenCon glow, but despite about a decade’s difference in ages, and all the miles between, I think I like Jay enough that I might go so far as to call him a friend. For those who know me, that’s fairly rare.

Kayne Newell: My other roommate. I interacted with Kayne a lot less as he tended to be more social in the evenings. He’d always come back to the room with stories of people he met and wacky things he saw while he was out. Still, we got breakfast together a couple days, and hung out in the evenings at and post-Embassy a couple nights too, so I think I know him about as well as you can get to know someone in 4 days. We too got into various discussions on a variety of topics, from women and race in gaming, to editions of games we liked, to the inevitable “no shit, there I was…” stories. As with Jay, I think I really lucked out having Kayne as a roommate for GenCon this year.

Gregor Hutton: While I still haven’t had the pleasure of gaming with Gregor, he deserves a mention simply because of how good a guy he is. I also owe him thanks for my being at GenCon, because it was his share of my post about seeking a room that caught Jay’s attention and got him to contact me. Further, Gregor just genuinely seems happy to see people every time I see him. Some people are polite when approached by relative strangers, but Gregor made a point to seek me out to say hello on several occasions throughout the weekend. That’s a sort of friendliness that you can’t fake, so I’ve got to give Gregor public props for that. While I don’t think we’re close enough to call him a friend, I think I’d be honored to do so. Plus, he designs cool games from time to time.

Joe Beason: Joe started out as, I’m embarrassed to say, “some gay guy on G+”. Our initial interactions were generally on Meg Baker’s sex ed posts, and eventually after some interaction on the topic of gays, Christianity and gay marriage, he Circled me. I Circled him back, and we were casually aware of each other in the weeks leading up to GenCon. Day 1, while I was still strongly in “online acquaintance stalker” mode, I recognized him and maneuvered into getting into his Monsterhearts game so I could introduce myself. Our further interactions were mostly in passing and the later Monster of the Week game. Still, he ran two very good games, and in particular the Monsterhearts game both seemed totally improvised and tailored to our characters, and pre-planned, which is impressive, whichever was true. He demonstrated a good grasp of dramatic tension that was much appreciated in both games, even in the somewhat zanier MotW game. Thanks for the games Joe, and I’m glad to have met you in person.

Steve Segedy: This guy is an unsung hero. I can’t really say that we interacted a lot, but I’d feel like an ungrateful douchebag if I didn’t mention him. Pretty much every time I went to GoD, this guy was either at the door talking to hopeful players, cruising the edges of the room looking for problems to be solved, and even facilitating games periodically. We did have one decent-length conversation on Saturday night as we walked to the Embassy Suites together about how far Games on Demand had come, and where it was going, but mostly, every time I saw him he just seemed so busy.

Matt Jackson: My history with Matt is funny. We first linked up while we were both deployed to Iraq, in different regions. He was trying to get some online play, but I was blessed to have a good face to face group, and a spotty enough internet connection that I wasn’t really invested in trying it. We later linked up again on G+. It was really good to see Matt at GenCon, though for the first day and a half, we were still talking entirely through G+, as I hadn’t quite managed to catch sight of him, despite several near misses. Eventually we got a chance to talk a bit, but it was so hectic that it wasn’t until our Friday night game of 3:16 that we got to talk much. Still, it was good to game with him, and we talked about linking up for some Hangout Gaming once I’m back home from the rest of my vacation.

Hamish Cameron: We played in at least two games together, and that’s all I can really say I know about Hamish. I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with him or even heard of him before this GenCon, but he really stood out to me as someone who brings quality to the table. There was never any single thing that grabbed my attention, but he was just really easy to riff off of, and I really liked the depth and consistency he brought to the roles he played, even if it was just a two-hour one-shot. Hamish, I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I’d love to have you at any table I play at.

Clifton Roach: This guy, despite how eerily familiar he looks, is one I met for the first time during my first game, Monsterhearts. He was the other player of what turned out to be a two player (plus GM) game, and while I think the dynamic would have been a bit more… well, dynamic with more than two players, we managed to have fun. I later played with him in a Dungeon World game, and finally in the Monster of the Week game. Each time, he was fun and engaging, and despite not having a lot of experience with indie games, he didn’t seem to have any baggage to carry in from other games. I like especially how, in that first Monsterhearts game, he managed to play his character hard, he was still fine with rooting against his own character, as he’d kind of set out to be the villain of the piece. I told him during the MotW game that I liked to believe that eventually our characters worked out their misunderstandings, and now Arthur was a very successful motivational speaker. He replied that he liked to believe that Victoria killed Arthur in some climactic battle. (In case it’s unclear, he played Arthur, who was… well, think something like the girl from The Faculty, but with magic instead of wormy things)

Other Notables: There are many people I met who I thought were pretty awesome, but I’m limiting myself to impressions and experiences at this GenCon. I could write a paragraph each on Jason Morningstar, Elizabeth Sampat, Liam Burke, Lenny Balsera, Clyde Rhoer, Ralph Mazza, Jason Pitre and probably a half-dozen others I’ll remember as soon as I post this. But this weekend, at this GenCon, my interactions with them were limited. I still think they’re great people who have created awesome games or been helpful to me in some fashion or another, but as I said in the beginning, if I wrote about everyone at GenCon who I thought was an amazing person, I’d never get this written and submitted. So, all of you people listed above, and especially all of you I didn’t list, I look forward, in some future when, to making your closer acquaintance.